From: [e--ra--y] at [goplay.com]
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Dallas Egbert (is this accurate?) Part 1
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 00:42:47 GMT

Hi,

I'm a 13 year old whose been playing AD&D for about 2 years now, and now my
aunt is trying to tell my dad it's dangerous and that I shouldn't be allowed
to play. She told him about a kid who killed himself back in the 1970s at
Michigan State University. I've been doing some searching and found this
article and I'm wondering if anyone knows how accurate it is. I want to show
it to my dad so he doesn't stop me playing. It looks good but is it right?
Does anyone know?

The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III
by Shaun Hately ([d--dn--t] at [alphalink.com.au])

In Brief

On August 15th 1979, James Dallas Egbert III (known as Dallas Egbert)
disappeared from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Dallas
was a 16 year old child prodigy. He was an expert on computers (he had been
called in to repair computers for the United States Air Force when he was
12), a Science Fiction and Fantasy fan, and a player of the Dungeons &
Dragons role playing game. On August 22nd a Texas Private Investigator, Mr
William C Dear was called in by Dallas' family in an effort to find the boy.
Dallas' uncle, Dr Melvin Gross, knew Mr Dear socially through his sister, who
worked for Mr Dear as a secretary. Mr Dear is a celebrated and highly
successful Private Investigator, and after speaking to Dallas' parents agreed
to take the case. During his investigation he suggested that Dallas may have
been involved in some sort of Dungeons & Dragons game that had gone horribly
wrong. This theory was widely reported in the press. In 1982 a movie called
'Mazes & Monsters' which bore a superficial resemblance to the case debuted
in Cinemas. Many people with vague memories of the Dallas Egbert case assumed
the movie was a true story rather than a work of fiction. The media's
reports, coupled with this misconception, and the fact that William Dear was
prevented from clarifying the case, helped to create the common misconception
that Role Playing Games (RPGs) in general, and Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in
particular were in some way dangerous. In 1984, William Dear wrote a book
entitled 'The Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III'
in which he presented the facts of the case as he saw them. This book, which
forms the basis of my article, was largely ignored by the media and critics
of the game.

Why Have I Written This Article?

The reason is simple. Very few people are aware of the facts behind this case.
That is true of both the games critics and its supporters. There are a lot of
rumours circulating, most of which can be described only as urban myths. The
Dallas Egbert case is only one of the cases which form the basis for the games
detractors, but it is the one I am most familiar with. It is also one of the
most famous.

My qualifications to write this article are simple. The first is simply that
I am doing it. Anyone could, and many people could probably do a better job.
But there are some reasons why I am writing it. I have been playing Dungeons
and Dragons, and its derivatives, for over a decade now. To an extent I
understand some of the problems that Dallas faced. There are some
similarities between his life and my own. Without going into too much
irrelevant detail, I was myself an identified profoundly gifted child, and
like Dallas, I suffered from severe depression as an adolescent. Suffice it
to say that I believe I may have some knowledge and insight into Dallas that
others may not share.

Much of the material for this article is drawn from the book mentioned above
by William C Dear. This book is becoming increasingly difficult to find, and
so I hope this article may, in some way, serve as an introduction to the case
for those who do not have the time or inclination to search for a copy of the
book.

Disclaimer

At times in this article I will refer to theories involving possible
homosexual child abuse of Dallas. I wish to make clear that I am in no way
suggesting that gay men are any more likely to molest children than
heterosexual men. Sadly, however, such incidents do occur among both groups.
I have no objection to homosexuality or to any supposed 'gay lifestyle'. I do
not believe that any form of sexuality is more or less valid than any other.
I know that the vast majority of gay men would never harm a child, would
never engage in non-consensual sexual activity, and find such concepts every
bit as reprehensible as society in general. References to child molestation
amongst the gay community in this article are intended to refer to that small
proportion who do engage in such activity. This information is presented for
the sake of completeness and I apologise sincerely to anyone who is offended
by it.

To the best of my knowledge and belief, this article accurately reflects the
facts in this case.

The Facts In This Case

Dallas Egbert, aged 16 years, disappeared from his dorm (Case Hall) at
Michigan State University on the 15th August 1979, after having had lunch
with one of his few friends Karen Coleman. Despite his age, his parents were
not notified of his disappearance until the 20th of August. On the 22nd
August Mr William Dear was called in by Dallas' uncle, Dr Melvin Gross, and
his parents, James and Anna Egbert. Mr Dear immediately dispatched three of
his associates to East Lansing, arriving there himself a week later.

Dallas was a D&D player. That is not in dispute. It is also not in dispute
that students at MSU played games including a 'live action form' of D&D in
steam tunnels under the University buildings. It should be pointed out that
D&D is not meant to be played in this way, and in fact the students were not
playing D&D. That is what they called what they did, and there may well have
been elements of D&D in this live action game. But D&D is designed to be
played sitting down around a table. It is not designed to be acted out.
Versions of RPGs called LARP or LRP (Live Action or Live Role Playing) do
exist. They are not D&D however. D&D is one example of a roleplaying game,
LARPs are another. To refer to LARPs as Dungeons & Dragons is akin to
referring to American Football as Soccer or as Rugby. They are similar. They
share some derivations and some principles. But they are separate entities.

The facts of Dallas' roleplaying were concentrated on by the media, partly due
to the investigative efforts of William Dear. There are other facts to be
considered, however, which got nowhere near as much coverage.

Dallas was either gay or bisexual. He was also a drug user who used his
knowledge of chemistry to manufacture drugs. Let me make it clear that I have
no objection to anyone's sexuality. As far as I am concerned it is normally
irrelevant to anyone but those directly concerned. I do object to drug use,
but am attempting not to let that influence this article. I mention these
facts only because they are of relevance in discussing Dallas - certainly as
much as the fact he played D&D.

Dallas also suffered from severe depression caused or exacerbated by, in the
opinion of an MSU psychologist, "parental pressure, criticism, academic
pressure, and the failure of all persons to realise that, although Dallas
Egbert was a genius, he was socially retardant, and in some respects could be
considered mentally retarded." According to Dr Louise Sause, an MSU Professor
who specialised in child psychology, the case was an example of "the very
costly price asked of some children . . . Their own image becomes one so
perfect that they dare not fail to live up to it . . . At the same time, fear
of success can become just as great as, or greater than, the fear of failure.
It's the constant demand to be star."

As an example of this, three days before he disappeared Dallas spoke to his
mother, and told her how happy he was to have earned a 3.5 for a computer
science course. She told him that he should have got a 4.0.

The immediate investigation into Dallas' disappearance uncovered several
things in his room. These included a note, suggesting suicide which
handwriting analysis said had not been written by Dallas. A collection of
poems, part of one (called 'Final Destination') I will quote below as it may
give some insight into the character and mindset of Dallas at the time of his
disappearance.

"Probably a town up
ahead, maybe a farm.
Probably could make it,
wouldn't be too hard.
If I can find a reason,
then I'll leave the car.
At the moment, I just don't know
where the reasons are.

Whenever I decide there's
a place I'd like to be,
soon as I can find there's
a goal to be achieved,
come the time I'm shown that
there's something left for me,
then I'll go, but until then,
I think I'd rather sleep."

When William Dear was called in, he learned all of this. He also found a
notice board in Dallas room which had a strange arrangement of drawing pins
placed into it. Mr Dear was convinced that these pins were some sort of
message, perhaps a clue to where Dallas was, or what his intentions had been.
Over the course of his investigation he considered several possibilities.

1. the first which gained the most coverage was that the pins were in the
shape of a map, possibly of the tunnels under MSU. This was considered
possible based on the most prominent part of the design which was L-shaped
and bore a distinct resemblance to the old power plant at the school as seen
from overhead.

2. the shaped design was also considered to possibly represent a gun, and
perhaps an indication of suicide. There were also thirty eight pins, which was
considered to possibly represent the calibre of a gun.

3. when it emerged that Dallas used to 'trestle' meaning that he would play
chicken with trains on an old trestle bridge near the University, the
possibility was considered that the L-shape represented a train and the
scattered arrangement of the other pins represented the path of a body hit by
a train.

4. an expert on Braille postulated that the pins could represent a Braille
message. He worked out a possible translation as being "And for it you
braved."


Of these four theories, the first three turned out to have some validity. The
design was a map. Dallas had attempted to mark all the rooms in the steam
tunnels underneath the University, as close to scale as he could manage. The
only one he had not marked was the room he intended to hide in. The dichotomy
of the L-shape representing a train and a gun had also occurred to him. The
message in Braille, however, was a complete coincidence - or rather the
expert had tried to find a message that wasn't there and had managed to come
up with something, in a similar way to seeing pictures in clouds if you look
for them.

William Dear is a somewhat unorthodox Detective. He is however a very
successful one. At the time of writing his book, he says that he had never
failed to locate a missing person. He investigates all possibilities. After
reviewing the evidence he considered a number of possibilities.

1. that Dallas had committed suicide.

2. that Dallas had gone into the steam tunnels and been injured or killed.

3. that Dallas was playing a game. He had disappeared for the sole purpose of
making people look for him.

4. that Dallas had overdosed on drugs.

5. that Dallas was being held by a gay man or a group of gay men. (Please
note: whenever he mentions this theory, he is quick to point out that he is
not making generalisations about the gay community in general. It is a sad
fact that there are gay child abusers. There are also heterosexual ones.
William Dear is not suggesting that the problem is more wide spread among gay
men.)

6. that Dallas was being held by people who were using his knowledge of how to
make drugs.

7. that Dallas had been kidnapped by some sort of intelligence group to make
use of his special talents and intelligence.

8. that Dallas had been murdered.

9. that Dallas had come to identify so much with his D&D character that he
believed he was his character.

10. that Dallas had been sent on some sort of a mission by a D&D Dungeon
Master (the term used for the arbiter or referee of a D&D game) in order to
prove that he was worthy to play in an advanced game.

11. that Dallas had been killed or injured while engaging in some sort of
dangerous activity - perhaps trestling.

Dear considered some of these theories less likely than others. He seems to
have favoured the theories of suicide, being held hostage, murdered, injured
in the tunnels, or on some sort of elaborate game. First of all I'm going to
deal with the suggestions that do have something to do with D&D as they are
the ones I am most interested in. These are theories 3, 9 and 10.

Theory 3 indicates that Dallas was playing some sort of game with the police
and detectives looking for him. Dear did consider this possible at first. He
even thought that it might be an effort to run the ultimate dungeon. He came
to discard this theory as the case dragged on as it went on too long to be a
game.

Theory 9 is a common one used by the anti-D&D groups, and a common
misconception held by some people. The simple fact is that becoming this
attached to a alter-ego or a persona is a sign of mental disturbance. If a
person is at the stage that they cannot distinguish between fantasy and
reality, they have a medical problem. Such a problem could not have anything
to do with D&D in the first instance. If a person is a player it is possible
that they could then become this attached to a character. But if a person is
a fan of a television show, and takes on the character of that show as the
basis for their own personality, do we then blame television? The cause is
internal to the person and a game could not cause this type of medical
condition. I should point out that while I accept the possibility of a person
becoming this attached to a character, my research has failed to find any
case where it is so. A fictional case formed the basis for Rona Jaffe's
'Mazes & Monsters' novel however, and the confusion that lead many people to
believe that that book (and the subsequent movie) was a true depiction of the
Dallas Egbert case have tended to perpetuate this theory.

As to Theory 10, while it might be possible for a sadistic and cruel person
to send a 16 year old boy on such a dangerous real-life mission, in order to
prove their worth, such actions have more basis in gang cultures than in D&D.
Any such action has nothing to do with D&D at all.

Besides theory 3, the theories that Mr Dear felt were most likely were, as I
have said; suicide, murder, being held hostage, or being injured in the
tunnels.

He believed suicide was a distinct possibility because of the suicide note
(which he felt to be genuine despite the handwriting analysis - he was
correct), the depression that was evident from Dallas' poetry and from
conversations with those who knew him. However he based his investigation on
the assumption that Dallas was alive, as that gave him the best chance to
find the boy safely.

He considered murder, possibly by drug types, or homosexual child molesters.
Again, however, he concentrated primarily on the theories that allowed a hope
that Dallas would be recovered alive.

Mr Dear did consider the theories that Dallas was being held hostage. He
considered it possible that Dallas was being held by a 'chicken hawk' a gay
man who used children for his own sexual purposes. Mr Dear attempted to
investigate this and when a gay Private Investigator from New York, Mr Don
Gillitzer offered his services to assist in the investigation, Mr Dear
accepted as Mr Gillitzer had a better chance in that area. Mr Gillitzer's job
was to ask questions in the gay community, and if there was a chance anyone
was holding Dallas to put pressure on them to release him.

The theory that he was being held by drug dealers, for his skills was also
investigated.

As to Dallas lying injured in the steam tunnels, Michigan State University
refused to accept this possibility. They claimed it was impossible for the
tunnels to be entered despite evidence to the contrary. Eventually Mr Dear
managed to get permission to search the tunnels. He found them to be extremely
dangerous and concluded that if Dallas had gone down there, he was not still
down there. He found evidence that Dallas had been down there - a blanket, a
carton of sour milk, and some cheese and crackers in a small room.

Mr Dear was not adverse to using the media to help him, and the Dallas Egbert
case was world news. He was faced with a dilemma however. He wanted to keep
the drug and sex theories out of the papers for several reasons. The first
one was that he didn't want any people holding Dallas to panic and kill him,
because they thought the law was closing in. He also wanted to protect
Dallas, and Dr and Mrs Egbert as much as possible. For these reasons, he
pushed the Dungeons & Dragons theory.

In fairness to Mr Dear, his sole interest was the safety of a child.
Everything else was secondary, and rightly so. Also the theory was taken
seriously by the gaming community. As evidence for this I will quote from The
Dragon #30 October, 1979. The Dragon later called Dragon Magazine is the
worlds largest selling role playing magazine. It is published by TSR Inc (now
part of Wizards of the Coast) who are the publishers of the Dungeons &
Dragons family of games.

"As I am writing this (11 Sep). DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is getting the publicity
that we used to just dream about, back when we were freezing in Gary's
basement in the beginning.

If we had our 'druthers', it would not have happened in such a fashion. By
now, as you read this, I hope the mystery surrounding James Egbert has been
happily resolved. Whatever the circumstances of the incident, it has been a
nightmare for his parents and family, as well as for TSR Hobbies, Inc.

It has been speculated that James was involved in some sort of D&D game that
went beyond the realm of pencil and paper roleplaying, and may have mutated
into something tragic. D&D was seized upon as a possible connection for a
number of reasons. First, James was an avid player. Indeed, I have met him at
past conventions and he used to subscribe to TD.

Secondly, there was the matter of the pins in the bulletin board, and the
speculation that they formed some sort of clue ala a D&D map or clue. Added
to this was the fact that the pins possibly resembled the steam tunnel system
under James' college, and an anonymous tip that 'live' games had been played
out there in the past, as well as other places on the campus. Pictures of the
map were sent to TSR, for analysis, with no concrete results.

Third, the day of his disappearance was the day prior to GENCON XII, and there
have been reports that attendees think that they may have seen him at the con.
Sadly registration doesn't show him registered anywhere.

Finally, James had an IQ that qualifies him as a genius, and D&D is a very
intricate and complex game, appealing to bright people. This was seen as
sufficient evidence to link the two, at least in the headlines.

Some of the reporting has been every bit as bizarre as the circumstances
surrounding the whole affair.

The chief detective hired by the parents has made some incorrect statements
regarding the game that have only fuelled the controversy and added to the
misconceptions surrounding it. Unfortunately, the nature of the incorrect
answers has led to sensationalist type speculation. D&D has been described as
a cult-like activity, and every editor knows that cults sell papers, or
dogfood, in the case of TV.

These basic mistakes have linked the supposed method of playing D&D to this
disappearance. The detective is quoted as saying, but both UP and AP, "You
have a dungeon master - he designs the characters. Someone is put into the
dungeon, and it is up to him to get out." He was further quoted as saying
that ". . . in some instances when a person plays the game 'you actually
leave your body and go out of your mind'". A campus policeman said that
dozens of D&D games were being played by "very secretive groups".

All of this had been grist for the journalist's mill, and has resulted in
some pretty bizarre headlines, all playing on the esoteric aspects of the
game, some slanted from the incorrect assumptions. A few choice samples that
we have seen here, and only the gods know how many we haven't seen, include
"Missing youth could be on adventure game", "Is Missing Student Victim of
Game?", "'Intellectual fantasy' results in bizarre disappearance", "Student
May Have Lost His Life to Intellectual Fantasy Game", "Student feared dead in
'dungeon'", and more of the like.

The most unfortunate consideration here is that all of the supposed link to
this unfortunate incident was somehow assumed to exist, when in truth no such
link has been proven.

No one connected with D&D, from the authors, through the editors, typesetters,
proofreaders, down to the final stage, the shippers, ever envisioned anything
like this happening. The slightest hint that this game somehow may have cost
someone their life is horrifying to each and every one of us.

If this is true, and the worst fears are realized when this mystery is
resolved, something is drastically wrong. If James is located and all ends
happily, the amount of suffering and grief has certainly been
disproportionate.

If the worst is true, let it serve as a painful and sad lesson to all of us
that play games, that games are simply games, meant to be amusing diversion
and a way to kill time in a fun fashion, and nothing more.

TSR has never ever suggested that D&D was meant to be acted out. How would it
be, when half of what makes it so much fun - magic - can not be simulated?

This incident could conceivably affect each of you who reads this. If the
'bizarre' tag sticks, all of us should consider the idea that we might meet
with scorn, or macabre fascination, or be branded as 'intellectual loonies'
in the media. In view of the distortions caused by the media, it may become
incumbent now upon all of us to actively seek to correct the misconceptions
now formed or forming whenever and wherever possible.

For now, we can only hope and pray that James will be located and in good
health. No game is worth dying for . . ."
- "Dragon Rumbles" by T.J. Kask. The Dragon, October 1979, pages 1, 41.

One point may need to be clarified. GenCon is the worlds largest gaming
convention. GenCon XII was held at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside on
the weekend of August 19, 1979. Despite reports that suggested otherwise
Dallas was not at the Convention. A Gaming Convention is exactly what is
sounds like. A large number of players of various games, including role
playing games meet at a set location and play games. There are organised
tournaments as well as a great deal of unorganised and demonstration games.

It is very unfortunate that Mr Dear's comments were inaccurate. However it is
understandable. In 1979 D&D was still a very new phenomenon. The game had
been in commercial existence for less than six years, and was still
relatively unknown. Mr Dear had no real knowledge of how it worked and yet
his statements, and those of others, were accepted as facts. To Mr Dear's
credit, he did make an effort to understand the game. He purchased rulebooks
and payed a Dungeon Master to take him through a game. He also enlisted the
aid of Mr Cliff Perotti, a published gaming author, and owner of a small
gaming company to help him in his investigations when Mr Perotti offered his
services. He made genuine attempts to understand how the game was played, if
for no other reason than he thought it might help him to understand Dallas.

But certainly there are no circumstances in a D&D game where 'you actually
leave your body and go out of your mind'. The concept is ridiculous. A D&D
game is normally played around a table. You are always physically and
mentally at that table. Your character - the persona that you play in the
game may range anywhere that the Dungeon Master allows. This is done by the
Dungeon Master describing the environment, and by the players stating what
their character is doing. The game does not involve any travel of any sort,
physical or mental - except perhaps to the refrigerator for another can of
Coke.

Eventually Mr Dear began to make contact with several people who stated that
they knew where Dallas was. These contacts took the form of anonymous phone
calls which told him that if he left Michigan they would help him find
Dallas. When these people provided him with evidence of their claims he
decided to return to Texas. Because his fellow Private Detectives (three men
who worked with him as well as New York Investigator Don Gillitzer) were
apparently known to the anonymous caller they withdrew as well, leaving Cliff
Perotti, a 19 year old games designer, as his only person on the ground in
East Lansing. After Mr Dear was back in Texas, a woman named Cindy
Hulliberger made contact with Mr Perotti and said that she knew where Dallas
was. She set up a meeting between Mr Perotti and a man who she said would
leave them to Dallas. This first meeting did not go ahead because a police
car passed by at an inopportune moment and by the time the meeting did take
place the following night, one of William Dear's men Mr Jim Hock was back in
Lansing. The initial meeting was with a Michael Barnes who took Mr Hock and
Mr Perotti to see a man named Archibald Horn. Mr Horn admitted freely that he
was gay, and had had teenage boys in his apartment. He denied knowing Dallas
and he demanded that Mr Hock and Mr Perotti leave. They did so. Later that
same night (actually early the following morning) Dallas Egbert telephoned
William Dear. Over the course of that day, Dallas phoned several more times
and finally revealed his location - Morgan City, Louisiana. Mr Dear charted a
Lear Jet, and along with two of his associates, Mr Frank Lambert and Mr Dick
Riddle flew to Morgan City where they recovered Dallas. He was released into
the custody of his Uncle, Dr Melvin Gross at 8.30 PM that evening September
13 1979.

(continued in part 2)

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